Halo 3: ODST Forum
This topic has moved here: Subject: Disc Unreadable [OP UPDATED 10.20.09]
  • Subject: Disc Unreadable [OP UPDATED 10.20.09]
Subject: Disc Unreadable [OP UPDATED 10.20.09]

Posted by: urk
Here's the official word from our publishing partner. Sorry it took so long for us to get this out to you. We know this issue has been a source of frustration. Thanks for being patient.

We are aware of a very small number of customers reporting that their copy of Halo 3 ODST is causing a "disc read" error, which cannot be corrected by Bungie. Microsoft is fully prepared to address this issue via customer support. If you are receiving this error, please contact Microsoft customer support at 1-800-4MY-XBOX for troubleshooting assistance.

If you experience any issues or difficulties via the official support channel, please private message me directly.


Along with thousands of other unfortunate people, my Halo ODST disc became unreadable for countless times during a loading screen.

There is nothing wrong with the disc, other than that the new version of DVDs are not very compatible with supposedly "older" 360s.

If this happens to you, try downloading it to your hard drive. This only seem to work for a very slim amount of owners though, because if it doesn't work, then your console will be unable to read the DVD the second you start it.

Also, there is another slim chance for it to work: If you can get one of your friends to host a lobby and then launch the game for you, it may just work. However, you will not be able to play the game solo.

If the above doesn't work doesn't work, or if you just want to express your problems, then I suggest you message the user: Test Ninja Alpha, following the format below.

Posted by: Test Ninja Alpha
Since different people can have slightly different issues, we want to get an idea of the various issues that people are seeing individually. For those of you having problems similar to this, please PM me the following:

1. A brief description of your specific problem and what you've tried to fix it. Please do not recap the thread.
2. Remove your hard drive and play through the same sections of ODST that are failing. Does that make a difference?
3. Put in Halo 3 and play through a the first few campaign missions (on easy, it'll go quick). Do you see the same behavior as in ODST, or does it function perfectly?



If you are not to sure about this problem, then the only sure-fire way to be reimbursed is to return your copy to your game retailer as soon as possible.

When or if Bungie fixes this problem, you could rebuy the game and see if it works.

****EDIT: 10.2.09****
Posted by: urk
Sorry about the continued delays, dudes (and ladies). We're in touch with Microsoft and they're telling us that you should be calling 1-800-4-MY-XBOX to get tickets up and going.

They're still not 100% locked in on the issue, but they are making progress. But no matter what the problem is, they've assured us the resolution will be handled through their support center.

If you are told by a customer service rep that they will not help you or that you should be going elsewhere for support, please ask them for their Customer Service Request # and report it to me directly via PM.

Again, we know this sucks hard. Hopefully they can zero in on the problem and get you all up and working asap.

If you really want to contribute, please perform the above. And if you happen to get on the phone with an "angry" customer support employee, you should ask for their Customer Service Request #, so they feel more obligated to help you, and all of us with this problem.


****EDIT: 11.16.09****
Posted by: urk
Posted by: DEACON01
Incase many of you didn't know, but Halo 3 did have a similar problem with its campaign mode.


Since you're in the researchin' mood, you won't find it too difficult to drum up instances of DRE at just about every major title release as well.

And we're not turning a deaf ear (or a blind eye). We understand that it seems that way, but we're frustrated too. We've got an open channel for you to communicate with our test team in the first post and we'd like you to stay in contact with support if you've already opened a trouble ticket. We're still in direct contact with our publisher as well to try to resolve this as quickly as possible, but unfortunately we don't have much to offer at this time, hence the silence.

And yeah, I know that's aggravating for the people who can't play.


****EDIT: 11.20.09****
Posted by: urk
Here's the official word from our publishing partner. Sorry it took so long for us to get this out to you. We know this issue has been a source of frustration. Thanks for being patient.

We are aware of a very small number of customers reporting that their copy of Halo 3 ODST is causing a "disc read" error, which cannot be corrected by Bungie. Microsoft is fully prepared to address this issue via customer support. If you are receiving this error, please contact Microsoft customer support at 1-800-4MY-XBOX for troubleshooting assistance.

If you experience any issues or difficulties via the official support channel, please private message me directly.



[Edited on 10.20.2009 8:07 PM PDT]

  • 09.22.2009 4:59 PM PDT
Subject: Disc Unreadable
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Try another game like Halo 3 and see if the same problem occurs

  • 09.22.2009 5:03 PM PDT
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  • Exalted Legendary Member

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Try your other games, it may be your 360.

  • 09.22.2009 5:03 PM PDT

◘♪♫♪Flyin through your neighborhood at hyperspeed, astro travelin♪♫♪◘
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I'm having the same problem it has to be a data corruption cause everything that happend to you and everything you attempted to alleviate the problem is exactly what I did and still no dice...

I cannot finish the last three missions in campaign, Co-op or otherwise....

I don't know what to do...

  • 09.22.2009 5:03 PM PDT

Posted by: guy la deoche
I'm having the same problem it has to be a data corruption cause everything that happend to you and everything you attempted to alleviate the problem is exactly what I did and still no dice...

I cannot finish the last three missions in campaign, Co-op or otherwise....

I don't know what to do...


We just got 'Bungied'. :(

  • 09.22.2009 5:05 PM PDT
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Zombie I have the exact same problem as you and it sucks. All my other games work perfectly fine and my copy works on my friends xbox.

[Edited on 09.22.2009 5:05 PM PDT]

  • 09.22.2009 5:05 PM PDT

◘♪♫♪Flyin through your neighborhood at hyperspeed, astro travelin♪♫♪◘
Ω∞Hora Incerta Mors Certa ∞Ω
◘Rumble, young man, Rumble◘ Ω∞Muhammad Ali∞Ω
♠♣♥♦Gamertag♦♥♣♠ Guy La Deoche

someone should email the bungie mods or someone in the know this doesn't look like an isolated problem... maybe something that needs patching...

  • 09.22.2009 5:06 PM PDT

Your xboxes are either messed up or the discs may have been printed wrong. If alot of people start to have this problem then it may have been a factory issue.

  • 09.22.2009 5:07 PM PDT

Download it onto your hard drive.

  • 09.22.2009 5:07 PM PDT
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Seems to happen after the first video in the campaign every time.

  • 09.22.2009 5:07 PM PDT

The same thing happened to me twice after the first mission. When the scene was loading I think I pressed A to skip it slightly too early. The third time I beat the mission I allowed the scene to load completely and never pressed a button until I was the next playable character. Try this as it worked for me. I also had this problem with the original halo 3 disk. Randomly, when I would go into matchmaking and get Ghost Town, the game would stop and boot me to the marketplace saying that my disk was unreadable despite it being fine.

  • 09.22.2009 5:10 PM PDT

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS Open your game right when you buy it. Look at the disc/discs and tilt them in the light as necessary. You are looking for what appears to be a discoloration or "air bubble" effect on the disc. (Best way I can describe it, there really isn't air in the disc, but it kinda looks like air is pocketed somewhere in it.) About 1 in 10 discs are going to have this issue and of those 1 in 10, 1 in 10 more will have data corruption. If a disc you just purchased has this effect, immediately inform the retailer and ask for another disc.

  • 09.22.2009 5:11 PM PDT
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Same exact problem. This is ridiculous! I can't even play the first mission of the campaign.

My other 360 games work just fine.

  • 09.22.2009 5:11 PM PDT

Posted by: Blade Sandstorm
Download it onto your hard drive.


I only have 20 GB, and I have about 90% of it filled up. :(

I think we should keep this thread alive, as I think this is a rising problem.

  • 09.22.2009 5:13 PM PDT

`Steve~0

all of u just download odst to your hdd and u wont have any problems. i had to do this with my ufc disc because it kept on -blam!- up so try it, may work.

  • 09.22.2009 5:15 PM PDT

Also, my game always resets if I didn't manually save. Resetting as in there is no saved data.

  • 09.22.2009 5:20 PM PDT

◘♪♫♪Flyin through your neighborhood at hyperspeed, astro travelin♪♫♪◘
Ω∞Hora Incerta Mors Certa ∞Ω
◘Rumble, young man, Rumble◘ Ω∞Muhammad Ali∞Ω
♠♣♥♦Gamertag♦♥♣♠ Guy La Deoche

either way not everyone can download this to their harddrives... if it is a problem then it needs to be resolved... otherwise they are going to see a whole lot of returns and complaints...

  • 09.22.2009 5:25 PM PDT
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Just downloaded to HDD. DID NOT WORK!!!

  • 09.22.2009 5:26 PM PDT

This is happening to me too. I do sometimes get problems with my disk drive along the lines of 'insert game' > 'close tray' > 'open tray', but this isn't happening here, I get to the end of the first cut scene and then get a disc unreadable. Tried installing it to hard drive and it gets to maximum 3% lol. I know it's my Xbox as I have tried it on my brother's console and it's fine. Disc 2 works perfectly however, and Halo 3 was working fine last night, but alas, ODST is not. Perhaps my laser is dirty or broken, but surely other games wouldn't run unless they were installed? I think it's time to phone microsoft support again :(

  • 09.22.2009 5:28 PM PDT
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Hello! I'm a male!

Posted by: Dr Zombie90210
My Halo ODST disc became unreadable for the third time just now. It seems to only do this during the loading screens.

I just received the game about 2 and a half hours ago, and is new, and there is no scratches or smudges. I restarted my console and even blew into it to relive it of some dust.

What should I do, and is there anybody else with this problem?




Does it do it when you try to continue from last saved checkpoint or like randomly everywhere?

  • 09.22.2009 5:32 PM PDT

Just bought it and both discs give me "The disc is unreadable" when loading a match. Gonna return it for another.

All other games work.

[Edited on 09.22.2009 5:45 PM PDT]

  • 09.22.2009 5:43 PM PDT
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I have the same problem also. I played through the sp and my disc went unreadable right before the last mission and did not save any game progress. I had a similar problem with halo 3. I'm going to try again, but manually do game saves before the end of each mission. I'm picking up a 2nd xbox in a few weeks, so I guess I'll know then if it's the console or the game.

  • 09.22.2009 5:45 PM PDT

◘♪♫♪Flyin through your neighborhood at hyperspeed, astro travelin♪♫♪◘
Ω∞Hora Incerta Mors Certa ∞Ω
◘Rumble, young man, Rumble◘ Ω∞Muhammad Ali∞Ω
♠♣♥♦Gamertag♦♥♣♠ Guy La Deoche

ya tried dling to my hdd didn't work still... I forgot also that ya it doesn't save my progress and I find myself going back through the same levels over again...

  • 09.22.2009 6:03 PM PDT
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Well it's nice to see I'm not the only one having this problem. I would like to make a bet the factory buring the disks screwed up because i got a "disc cant be read" after the first cutscene and a 2nd time a little bit later on. Then each time it goes to a loading screen it freezes up for a bout 10/15 seconds. So its a problem with the disc for certain. As for those saying its the xbox the fact that so many people are having the same problem just does not add up.

  • 09.22.2009 6:11 PM PDT

◘♪♫♪Flyin through your neighborhood at hyperspeed, astro travelin♪♫♪◘
Ω∞Hora Incerta Mors Certa ∞Ω
◘Rumble, young man, Rumble◘ Ω∞Muhammad Ali∞Ω
♠♣♥♦Gamertag♦♥♣♠ Guy La Deoche

just pmed Foman I really don't know who to contact cause MS support will just tell you to check your Xbox or clean your disc.. then return said such disc but it won't alleviate any of the future problems this will cause...

  • 09.22.2009 6:13 PM PDT